Chapter 216.2: New Ability User and Preparation for War

In Steel Plant 81.

The production was in full swing, and it was a lively scene as far as eyes could see.

With the mobilization of the Wartime Regulations, more and more refugees were put into production work. The number of workers in Steel Plant 81 had expanded to 90, and was divided into multiple workshops according to different production missions.

Workers who had mastered production skills were promoted to foreman and led inexperienced apprentices to learn how to use the equipment in the factory to recycle the garbage picked up by the scavengers from the wasteland into what they needed.

At this moment, in the No.1 workshop of Steel Plant 81, a 20mm caliber autocannon was displayed in the center of the workshop.

The box-type receiver structure had simple buffers on both sides, and there was an air-cooled box at the root of the gun barrel for heat dissipation.

The magazine was located directly behind the receiver, close to the trigger position, which was convenient for the gunner to load, and could be operated by one person, which was very convenient.

In order to ensure the safety of the gunner and the ammunition rack, the front end of the receiver also had a groove, which could be installed or welded with a 20mm steel plate.

This thickness was sufficient to withstand most bullets and explosive fragments, providing the gunner with a relatively safe firing environment.

Standing next to Chu Guang, Athlete Foot, one of the managers of Steel Plant 81, was introducing the product to him proudly. "20mm caliber, 1500mm long barrel, 1300mm long rifling, one magazine can fit 10 bullets, and it can be emptied in less than 5 seconds! As you can see, this equipment can definitely become the nemesis of helicopters!"

Bathroom Goer, who was standing on the other side, said with the same excitement, "That's right, dear administrator, it's not just the nemesis of helicopters, I dare say that even Creepers and mutant humans running on the ground will definitely not be able to withstand a shot that hits them head-on!"

If they actually withstood the first shot, they could simply shoot another!

"Considering various combat needs, we also designed phosphorus-containing incendiary bullets, steel-core armor-piercing bullets, and high-explosive bullets for it! Unfortunately, we have not made a proximity fuze, so the high-explosive bullets that trigger the fuze in advance have a small probability of misfire, but it is not a big problem!"

"That's right, but wouldn't 10 shells in a magazine be too little?" Looking at the autocannon in front of him, Chu Guang had an expression of interest on his face.

As if guessing that the administrator would ask that, Athlete Foot said with a smile, "It's not a problem at all! We can put four autocannons together and fire intermittently! That's 40 rounds!"

Bathroom Goer followed suit. "That's right, if the firepower is not enough, we can also install the eight-unit base and tow it with a truck!"

Chu Guang nodded approvingly.

But at this moment, he suddenly remembered something, and then asked, "By the way, what about the 88mm cannon you got before? Isn't there an experimental version? Why didn't I see it?"

In addition to anti-aircraft firepower, he also needed a sufficiently reliable support weapon at the moment.

The support mentioned here was not the unreliable pieces of shit Mosquito came up with. Well, the dude was able to create some amazing stuff once in a while, but most of his inventions might kill you before you killed the enemy.

It was the kind that could cooperate with the infantry on the front line and drop the explosives on the enemy's head with precision.

For some reason, after hearing Chu Guang's words, the expressions on Bathroom Goer and Athlete Foot's faces turned a little awkward.

The latter coughed softly, "The speed of that artillery's shells can't go up... At first, we planned to change to a howitzer, but we didn't have time. Mosquito came over and gave us an offer, saying that he was going to continue our research. So we sold all the unrifled barrels to him."

Speaking of this, Bathroom Goer looked indignant. "But we didn't expect that he didn't plan to continue our research at all. Later I learned that he cut the barrel into small sections and planned to make a short-caliber 88mm mortar."

Athlete Foot shook his head and said. "That little fucker does whatever he wants...!"

Chu Guang was stunned by what he said before feeling a little dumbfounded.

Modifying anti-aircraft guns into mortars

?

Does this work too?!

...

The southern suburb of Heavenly Water City.

In the abandoned North Slope Industrial Estate.

Dilapidated factories and buildings were all around, and there were as many concrete fragments scattered on the ground as there was snow falling in the sky.

In a factory with a relatively complete wall.

Ragged and scrawny slaves, under the watchful eye of marauder overseers armed with weapons and whips, brought supplies from the warehouse into the workshop.

There was also a very large boiler hanging in the workshop.

The furnace was filled with boiling molten iron, and the slaves next to it were still using shovels to bring coal to the heating room, making the whole room as hot as summer.

The workshop next door was just as hot.

More than 30 iron anvils were displayed in the wide workshop, and the shirtless slaves were swinging their hammers and beating the red-hot castings on the anvils hard.

After hot forging, these rough castings were sent to another workshop, processed by a group of skilled craftsmen using simple tools such as files, and sent by porters to the final workshop for assembly.

The looks in the eyes of the overseers looking at these slaves struck fear in their hearts, and their calves couldn't help shaking.

It didn't look like they were looking at a human.

Rather, they looked like they were staring at meat on a chopping board.

However, if they could work, at least they wouldn't be eaten. As long as they worked hard, they would live... That was the promise given to them by the overseers.

And the survivors who were kept in captivity in underground cells were much worse.

They only had two types of endings.

Either became cannon fodder, or food rations.

In winter, the latter was much more likely than the former.

In the office on the second floor of the factory, it was as warm as spring.

Sitting behind an old desk was a scruffy man in a leather jacket with a wooden pipe in his mouth.

The smoke from the psychoid leaves burning made him squint his eyes in ecstasy.

His name was Black Snake, a brigade commander of the Bonechewer Clan, and he was ordered to lead a brigade south, but stopped because of the heavy snow.

Although the status of the Snake Tribe he belonged to was not as good as the Fang Tribe in the Bonechewer Clan, it was still under the direct command of the clan leader, and each of the nine Company Leaders under him was a ruthless man who could conquer and fight well.

Actually, there were ten before.

However, the Company Leader named Ka was attacked by local survivors in Clearspring City on the way to Clearspring City to establish an outpost, and his whereabouts were unknown.

Black Snake didn't feel bad about losing a mere company leader, he could promote another one at any time as long as he wanted.

What really distressed him was the loss of nearly one hundred and fifty brothers in that battle, as well as nearly one hundred rounds of 100mm shells and dozens of tons of rations.

Black Snake got angry every time he thought about it.

Those damn prodigals!

They even poured all his nutritional cream into the sewer, and set fire to his dried rat and meat strips!

Waste is a shameful act.

He swore that he would definitely get the lost supplies back from them.

"It's so beautiful to hear the sound of the hammer... When the winter is over, we'll have two more companies' worth of equipment!"

With nearly 1,000 slaves, the logistical problems of 1,500 people were solved.

These slaves were not only used as labor, but also as food.

Black Snake felt like a genius.

The staff officer, Vaders, standing aside looked at him, but the expression on his face was not very optimistic. "This battle should not be dragged on for too long, you should have noticed that when your subordinates attacked the local survivor settlements, they encountered strong resistance on both occasions... Obviously, those survivors were aware of the danger. They even formed alliances and relocated outlying settlements."

"Isn't that great?" Black Snake's eyes narrowed slightly, smoke wafted from his nose, and he continued. "Since they now huddle together like rodents, we can just kill them all altogether. It saves us the time to chase them around!"

Hearing this, Vaders shook his head.

He was thinking about it too simply!

He had learned from Kevin before that the survivors in the northern suburbs of Clearspring City were suspected to have mastered the technique of making punched receivers.

This meant they could produce reliable weapons and ammunition in large quantities in a short period of time and at an extremely low cost.

On the other hand, on their side, due to the lack of production equipment and effective logistical support, even if those slaves played a small role, they were quite limited to be honest.

The longer the war dragged on, the more dangerous it was to them!

However, compared to Vaders, Black Snake, a brigade commander, was very optimistic. "Relax, my friend. I know they might be tough, but we have that guy."

100mm howitzer!

A 20-kilogram shell strike would dissipate grass within 30 meters, and a half-meter-thick concrete fortification would be easily shattered!

That terrifying firepower was enough to make any survivor colony under the scale of 10,000 despair!

And they had two of them!

Black Snake leisurely added some sun-dried psychoid leaves to his pipe, as there was nothing else to do in the winter.

Just then, there was a knock on the door outside the office.

After getting permission to come in, a marauder in a fur coat walked in, gave an inadequate military salute, and said. "Report! The Lion Fang brigade commander has sent someone to bring you a message saying that they've built an infantry fortification in Remote Creek Town, and they want to invite you to join them in the spring hunt!"

"Remote Creek Town?" Black Snake glanced subconsciously at the map on the wall, but couldn't see where it was.

Vaders, who was standing beside him, reminded, "Remote Creek Town is located just north of Clearspring City, about 10 kilometers away from the Elm District and about 20 kilometers away from the concrete fortifications built by the survivors in the northern suburbs."

The southern suburb of Heavenly Water City, where they were now, was probably located in the northeast of Clearspring City.

After a moment's pause, Vaders performed his duties as a staff officer and gave advice. "The survivors in the northern suburbs of Clearspring City are not easy to deal with. It is a good choice to concentrate troops against them."

With two brigades, what he was worried about would no longer exist.

With so many people, they could easily defeat the survivors in the northern suburbs of Clearspring City even if they used the human wave attack tactic.

However, his superior apparently didn't think so...

"Why should we be with them? We can take the northern suburbs of Clearspring City by ourselves." Black Snake's eyes narrowed slightly.

According to the marauder's rules, whoever took down the territory first would have the right to loot!

If he acted with the people of the Fang Tribe, he would only be able to get leftovers.

But if he was able to capture the northern suburb of Clearspring City alone, he would be able to have a chance to eat meat to his heart's content.

He had artillery, armor, and enough infantry to deal with a bunch of scavengers.

Why should he let other people share his victory?

"Although Lion Fang is also a brigade commander like me, his status in the tribe is higher than mine. If we act together, his level of command is higher than mine. The survivors in the northern suburbs are easy to deal with, but Boulder Town is a tough one. If we follow them, we might be sent as cannon fodder."

Squinting those serpent-like eyes, Black Snake continued slowly. "Not only can we not follow them, we must also get ahead of them and kill the prey in the shortest possible time!"

Vaders had a look of helplessness on his face.

He was very clear that this man would not listen to him when making decisions at the strategic level.

Most of the marauders were the same, they only had the spoils in their eyes, and it was the brutality and ferocity etched into their bones that drove them to fight, and nothing else.

Even if the people of the Bonechewer Clan looked a little different, there was not much difference in essence.

It was like a dog that wouldn't stop eating shit.

Looking at Vaders who fell into silence, Black Snake revealed a relaxed smile, and said a few words to soothe him. "Relax, my friend, I didn't underestimate our opponents. I made this judgment only after I learned about their strength from the brothers who had come back from the front."

He still respected this military advisor who had helped him win many battles.

If it were someone else, they might have been eaten already.

"Do you want to give it a shot? You are no longer a member of the Army. There is no need to obey the rules of the Army. You can have fun with us." Black Snake said while handing over the cigarette in his hand.

Looking at the cigarette Black Snake handed over, Vaders shook his head and said, "No, I need to keep my mind clear."

The people from the Army wouldn't smoke.

At most, they would drink wine.

For him, having wealth, beauty, and wine was more than enough.

Black Snake smiled and waved his pipe. "This thing does exactly that. Psychoid leaves can make you a hundred times more energetic and awake, but since you don't like it, forget it."

Leaning back on the chair, Black Snake looked at him and muttered suddenly, "I need you to make a plan to help me win this war in the shortest time possible."

Vaders pondered for a while and asked cautiously, "How about mid January?"

"The blizzard should stop by then, the impact of the weather will not be great, and we can give them a surprise before the spring starts."

When the winter just ended, those survivors should not have too many fortifications. The impact of this cold winter on everyone was equal, whether it was those attacking or those defending.

Black Snake snapped his fingers. "Alright, we’ll do as you say!"